FULL BIO

Born in Hong Kong and now living in Orange County, California, Anita Lau is an international author and writer who has lived in Malaysia, Australia, Nebraska, Oregon, San Francisco and also, Hawaii. Her obsession with food began at an early age but it wasn’t until her early 20s when her experimentation with cooking led her to start a small catering business which she would run in her spare time while at college in Australia.

Returning to Hong Kong in the early 1990s, she discovered her passion for food was not only limited to cooking, but also, through the written word. Various channels opened up to her throughout the 1990s, where Anita not only was a contributor to the South China Morning Post, Asian Home Gourmet magazine, but also, was a columnist for the now defunct TV&Entertainment Times as well as a regular contributor to the Hong Kong Tatler‘s Annual Best Restaurants Guide. She’ll tell you her best memory during that time in Hong Kong was being a judge at the Hong Kong Culinary Awards. It was a pivotal decade in her life.

Moving to the United States in 1999, writing gigs were not as abundant leading to only contributing to the Palo Alto Weekly, however, availed time for her toauthor a cookbook entitled Asian Greens in 2001 (available through Amazon). She also kept up her love of writing by posting on YELP which led to her position as the 2nd most prolific Yelper in the world and earning her elite badges for 11 consecutive years (two of which are “Black Elite Badges”).

In 2009, Anita returned to more active writing including a 10-month stint as contributing food writer at the Orange County Register and Food Frenzy blog and was a guest judge at Top Chef Korean Food Challenge.

Her love of cooking was not all lost when in August 2011, she was invited to guest chef at the Kowloon Cricket Club‘s fine dining room in Hong Kong where she presented a menu of her favorite dishes inspired by local Orange County eateries and while there, was featured in the food section of the South China Morning Post.

In 2012, she was invited to speak at the V3Con Digital Media Conference, appeared in an episode of Eat Street and her website “diary of a Mad Hungry Woman” was nominated for a Golden Foodie Award in the Best Blog category.

2013 saw Anita once again judging various food competitions, and she was featured on yet another episode of Eat Street, and served as a panelist at OCPRSA. Remaining on the Guild of the Golden Foodie Awards for the second year, she was nominated for a Golden Foodie Award once again, this time, in the Best OC Food Writer category. On top of that, she is a regular San Diego “correspondent” for the SoCal Restaurant Show, which airs every Saturday from 10am to 12pm on AM830.

In 2014, Anita was welcomed into the prestigious Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LA/OC Chapter) and appeared as a guest judge on season 12 of Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen. She was once again nominated for a Golden Foodie Award in the Best Food Writer category, won the OC Weekly’s Reader’s Choice Award for Best Blog, and was chosen by CBS.com as having one of the best blogs in Orange County. Her freelance avenues for the year included: Riviera magazine (July/Sept), thrillist.com, Laguna Beach magazine (Dec).

In 2015, she represented Orange County at “Foodie Hub” (formerly Chowzter)’s North American Awards ceremony in New Orleans and once again, judged at the OC Fair’s Chefs Challenge. She was nominated once again for a Golden Foodie Award in the Best Food Writer category, and continues to freelance adding Dine Newport Beach, and also, Le Pan Media Hong Kong to her repertoire. She also traveled to Mexico to judge the annual Sabor de Baja event in August, and was in Hong Kong for the Michelin 2016 announcements this November. She also continues to periodically contribute to the SoCal Restaurant Show.

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About Me

This blog is a journal of mostly my eating adventures, but also, other things I'm passionate about, including travel, the arts, and also, necessities to complete my life. Centered predominantly in and around Orange County, CA, some will extend to Los Angeles, San Diego and beyond. I am constantly searching for delicious food to eat and fun things to do, nothing is out of bounds. Sometimes it doesn't end well, but I can definitely say, it will always be an interesting journey.